Borough President Vito Fossella Thanks Search-And-Rescue Crew

Borough President Vito Fossella thanked members of a volunteer search-and-rescue crew who found Barbara Martz, an 83-year-old woman who went missing from her West Brighton home last month.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) was alerted to the retired schoolteacher’s disappearance through a social media post by Staten Island activist Scott LoBaido. The 27 volunteers followed tips, distributed flyers, and knocked on doors before safely finding her on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden on April 14.

“After following the situation, we thought it would be nice to recognize what you all did,” said Borough President Fossella during a gathering in his office. “We just want to say thank you.”

Ed Arale of the CERT team organized the volunteers into groups of four with mapped grids of the area.

“Within two hours, we found her,” he said. “It all comes down to boots on the ground -- these people who came out, they stopped what they were doing, they’re true spontaneous volunteers.”